Dust service

HelioClim-3 version 5 and the dust

The HelioClim-3v5 version is using the CAMS McClear clear-sky model which takes into account the atmospheric dust.

The McClear model uses the atmospheric amounts of aerosols (dust, carbon, salt, etc ), water vapor and ozone to compute the sunlight scattering and diffusion in its down path through the atmosphere. The amounts of aerosols, water vapor and ozone are computed by ECMWF in the C-IFS numerical weather model.

The main finding of this report is certainly that CAMS C-IFS underestimates the amount of dust in North Africa and Middle East (chapter 3.1.2, page 27) but is in good qualitative agreement in terms of seasonal variations. If there is a big dust event like Harmattan, it is likely that the CAMS dust values will be impacted, but they will certainly not show the near extinction of the solar radiation.

SoDa can offer a study of dust event frequency and intensity for a given location, based on the analysis of the meteorological METAR codes at the nearest airport. Please find in the attachment a typical report which can be produced.